I see the human organism as a layering of different levels of consciousness. Each layer supports mostly automated processes that sustain the layers beneath it.
For example, we have cells that only know what it’s like to be a cell and to perform their cellular processes without any awareness of the more complex layers above them. Organs are much more complex than cells and they perform their duties without any awareness of anything above them either. And the complexity keeps increasing with various systems like endocrine, cardiovascular, etc. Then we have our subconscious and finally our conscious.
At our level, we do not consciously control any of the layers beneath us. Our primary task is to keep our bodies alive.
This got me thinking… isn’t it a little too self aggrandizing to think that we have a near infinite layering of consciousness beneath us and then it just stops at our level of awareness? What if there is some other conscious process that exists above us within our own bodies?
When people take psychedelic drugs they often describe achieving a higher level of awareness akin to ecstasy. Well what if this layer is always there actively ”living” within us but we are just the chumps that go to work, do our taxes, and exercise, while it doles out just enough feel good chemicals to keep us going (sometimes not even that)?
A common definition of consciousness is that it’s the fact that there’s something it’s like to be. It’s the ability to have a subjective experience. I think it’s a safe assumption that the brain is responsible for the emergence of consciousness, but I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s located in the brain. It’s not really located anywhere. That’s kind of like saying that waves are at the surface of the ocean when, in fact, they’re indistinguishable from each other. Your entire sense of existence is an appearance in consciousness. The feeling that it’s located behind your face is just another wave on the ocean.
I believe it originates from the brain because at the end of the day, consciousness manifests on top of a network of neurons, which is effectively the result of a massive (in terms of complexity) chemical reaction. As a side note: I think the growth of AI will show us quite clearly that throwing compute power behind black boxes (artificial neural networks) will not invoke consciousness.
I say that consciousness is created and held in our brain. What I think you’re saying is that consciousness encompasses our entire subjective experience, in which case you’d be correct.
Coming back to the point, when I said that our consciousness is present in the brain, I meant our level of consciousness (going by your definition). I do not know if my liver has a consciousness, but assuming that it does, perhaps it’s only really capable enough to latch on to the purpose it is provided with by the inherent automation that our bodies possess?